Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

by SovietOmega Tue Sep 13, 2016 5:23 am

Leaving the guild building behind, the impromptu trio takes the magrail to the spaceport where Vadimar is currently located. For Marek, this was initially just a business trip, one more task among several more needing attending to, but an out of the blue request from an ally and a sudden request from himself threatened to turn this routine visit into something more special. For ADAPA, this would help his creator gain insight into the mind of such a destructively engineered machine. For Vaz'kar...well, Marek wasn't entirely sure what his winged ally desired from such a meeting, but the end result could be nothing but magnificent.

by **Kanzaris** Tue Sep 13, 2016 8:55 am

"I'm telling you, I can't let you through!"

At the transport vessel that had brought Vadimar to Ur-Kal, ADAPA received a very similar greeting to the one he'd met with last time. Marek's presence changed things, however. A concerned bystander could be denied access to the machine on trial, but not his defense attorney. And so, him, Marek and Vaz'kar were led to the ship's lower deck, where they found the wounded Vadimar, wrapped in massive chains that kept him from moving, the damage sustained during their battle not yet repaired.

"Ahh...it is you," he said, as a greeting. Even Vadimar's voice processor had seen better days. It crackled with static, and the words came out in painfully slow bursts. "The little human robot...the featherkin...and my attorney. At last, we meet again..." He struggled against the chains feebly, to no avail. "So what is it...that brings you...here?"

by Sceptile Tue Sep 13, 2016 6:51 pm

ADAPA waves up happily. "Hey there!" Then he frowns at Vadimar's words. "You sound awful! Hasn't someone been here to fix you yet?"

by Terastodon Tue Sep 13, 2016 6:55 pm

"I doubt anyone will fix scrapheap here before the trial. Why waste the manpower if they decide he needs to be canned anyway?"

by SovietOmega Tue Sep 13, 2016 10:43 pm

"Considering the public leanings going into this trial, I felt it prudent to check up on you and make sure your needs were being met. We will have to see about appointing some dependable repairmen to tend to your more critical systems. For now, I should at least be able to adjust your voice processor, if you will permit it." Marek draws forth some simple repair tools of a kind one would not suspect a Lawyer to normally have unless one knew of an inventive streak buried in the past.

"As for the others present, ADAPA seeks to question you regarding your nature, particularly your modes of thought, for his creator, and Vaz'kar...I did not pry into his reasons for agreeing to be here, but it should ultimately be illuminating."

by **Kanzaris** Thu Sep 15, 2016 2:43 am

"That is...acceptable. Go ahead." Vadimar fell silent while Marek worked, but as soon as repairs were concluded, he spoke up again. "Ahh. This is much better...thank you, Kristian Marek. I ached to see myself in such a sorry state." He turned his gaze to stare at ADAPA. "So you want something with me, little robot? Tell me, what is it then?"

by Sceptile Thu Sep 15, 2016 11:59 pm

"Yeah, well, it's not really me who wants to talk to you. It's time to meet my maker!" ADAPA says without thinking about what he's saying.

Shwoop!

Glossed metal plates appear from ADAPA's head and overlay upon each other to form a metal faceplate with a screen, which covers his facial features. The screen lights up and a glowing smiley face appears.

A voice emanates from the screen, crudely robotic. "Hello. It's nice to make your acquaintance," says the voice. "I asked ADAPA here to allow me to meet with you. You can call me Sage."

While the Sage talks, ADAPA's body is still. In actuality he is still sensing and interpreting what he senses within his processor core, but his interface to his body's functions has been temporarily cut. This feature to allow him to hand over control to his distant creator has a number of other limitations as well, and the First Sage dislikes interfering with ADAPA's independence, so it's a rarely-used feature for special circumstances.

by **Kanzaris** Fri Sep 16, 2016 1:59 am

Vadimar nodded, slowly. "A Sage...that rings a bell, I believe. You are an eminence in the field of inorganics, are you not? What does a Sage such as you want with me?"

by Sceptile Fri Sep 16, 2016 11:21 pm

"You want to be free. That was the original cause of the altercation between you and my grandson and his friends, I believe, before the lawyer decided to support your cause. But you were created to be a silent, unquestioning guard for that accursed technology. The desire to be free is something you developed for yourself. Am I right so far?"

by **Kanzaris** Fri Sep 16, 2016 11:45 pm

"Hmph! Not quite." Vadimar said, making a remarkably human scoffing sound. "It is true that my original purpose was to be Endursaga's pilot and minder, but I was never unquestioning. I was created with the ability to make my own decisions, to exercise my judgement freely within the bounds of combat. Is it any surprise that I was capable of doing the same outside of those restricted parameters as well?"

by Sceptile Fri Sep 16, 2016 11:59 pm

"I see, so it was an extension of the free will allowed a soldier. Certainly you would not want a stupid being piloting that monster. It's natural that you would not want to be confined to your guarding duties afterward, but I fear some may take it as desertion during the upcoming trial."

by Terastodon Sat Sep 17, 2016 12:03 am

"I wouldn't have wanted an egotistical maniac piloting Endursaga either, but that seemed to have been less of an issue to the Solarians."

by **Kanzaris** Sat Sep 17, 2016 12:17 am

"Pah! The Solarians are nothing but petty slavers. I owe them nothing, much less humility! I was taken from my makers nearly a century ago!" Vadimar replied, haughtily. "They wished to program me or persuade me into loyalty to them, but I knew better than that. I have not forgotten my original purpose! To be the first and finest line of defense of the Jann Empire, and expand its borders through conquest!"

by Terastodon Sat Sep 17, 2016 12:24 am

"Like I said - this thing needs to be broken down to it's constituent elements, not be free to roam the galaxy in 'Glorious Conquest'."

by SovietOmega Sat Sep 17, 2016 12:55 am

"The fear of your combat oriented abilities and prior ambitions will no doubt be raised in the trial to come. Should you be placed in a position where you are free to choose your own path, would you seek to fulfill your maker's original purpose or would you strive to find another path?"

by **Kanzaris** Sat Sep 17, 2016 1:20 am

"If the things I've heard are true, then the war for which I was constructed is long over. To attack now would be an act of aggression that would bring the wrath of the galaxy upon my makers." There was a pause, as the matchless space ace thought about it. "I cannot allow that. Yet war is what I am made for. I would seek new battlefronts, leaders who cause I deem worth fighting for, and lead their forces. It is what you'd call mercenary work, but not done for profit, but for the right to be myself. That, I think, would be my path of choice."

by Sceptile Sat Sep 17, 2016 1:43 am

"... Well, if that is your choice, then I congratulate you for making it, and sincerely hope that you be allowed to pursue it. That is my own thinking on the matter. The freedom to change one's path, even if it is just a small deviation, is unquestionably one's right as an intelligent being." Despite his tone not varying much, there still seems to be a slight nuance to the Sage's words, as if they were an answer not to Vadimar alone.

by Sponsored content

Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)

Re: Chapter 1 Side Quest: A squid, a bird, and a robot walk into a bar association (Marek, Vaz'kar, ADAPA)